Scottish Executive

Air Services

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give any details of any involvement it has had in the consultation on the future development of air transport in the UK.

Lewis Macdonald: Alastair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport launched the consultation process for a UK white paper The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom by a statement to the House of Commons on 23 July. The consultation period runs until the end of November. The white paper is to be published next year and will provide a sustainable long-term policy framework for the future of aviation across the UK.

  Aviation matters are partly reserved and partly devolved. The UK Government and the Scottish Executive are working closely together to ensure that the white paper meets Scotland’s needs. The Scottish consultation document was issued jointly by the Department for Transport and the Executive. Officials from the Department for Transport and the Executive’s Development Department are organising a programme of consultative events that will engage stakeholders in a detailed debate regarding the key issues highlighted in the consultation document.

Air Services

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Transport and (b) Secretary of State for Scotland on the future of Scottish airports.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive is in regular contact with both the Department for Transport and the Scotland Office regarding the air transport industry in Scotland. Such contacts occur at both official and ministerial levels.

Central Heating

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21782 by Iain Gray on 19 February 2002, how many of those 23 applicants have now had a central heating system installed.

Hugh Henry: The 23 applicants concerned contacted Eaga by telephone and the information they gave led Eaga to believe that they were eligible for the central heating programme. However, applicants must sign a declaration attesting that they meet all the conditions for free central heating. Fifteen of the applicants did not return signed declarations and it must therefore be assumed that, on reflection, they found themselves to be ineligible. Three of the eight remaining applicants have had free central heating installed and the other five will soon do so.

Central Heating

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-21782 by Iain Gray on 19 February 2002, how many applications have now been received and approved for free central heating installation in the Scottish Borders area under its central heating installation programme.

Hugh Henry: The answer to question S1W-21782 gave information on the total number of applications received as at 31 December. Between 1 January and 2 August 2002, Eaga received a further 113 applications for the central heating programme from households in the Scottish Borders area. One hundred and five of these were subsequently found to be eligible for a grant.

Central Heating

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-12399 by Jackie Baillie on 25 January 2001, whether the Central Heating Working Group has published its report.

Hugh Henry: The conclusions reached by the Central Heating Working Group were set out in the enclosure to a letter of 23 February 2001, from the then Minister for Social Justice to the Convenor of the Social Justice Committee. It was copied to all MSPs and copies were placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. It records that priority for free central heating will be given to (a) those aged over 75; (b) the elderly living alone, and (c) the disabled and the long-term ill. These cases are prioritised against other applications received at the same time.

Compulsory Purchase

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to issue any proposals on updating the law in respect of compulsory purchase.

Hugh Henry: We intend to consult on proposals for updating the law and procedures in relation to compulsory purchase in due course. We have yet to finalise a timetable for such a consultation.

Dentists

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full-time equivalent salaried general dental practitioners there are in each NHS board area.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The number of full-time equivalent salaried general dental practitioners currently in post in each NHS board area is not held centrally. This information can be obtained from the relevant Island NHS Boards and Primary Care NHS Trusts. The number of salaried dentist posts in each NHS board area which have current approval from the Executive is contained in the following table:

  
 NHS Board
Number of Salaried Dentist Posts1,2,3(Whole-time 
Equivalent)  Argyll and Clyde
7.15  Ayrshire 
and Arran 5 
Borders 1.4 
Dumfries and Galloway 4 
  Fife
Nil  Forth Valley
1  Grampian
8.5   Greater Glasgow
Nil  Highland
15.8   Lanarkshire
1  Lothian
11.92  Orkney
2.5   Shetland
3.6  Tayside
Nil  Western Isles
Nil 

  Notes:

  1. A number of posts are part-time.

  2. A number of posts are currently vacant.

  3. Other salaried dentist posts have been approved in the past but are no longer required by the board and so are not counted.

Dentists

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what average gross fee income of full-time equivalent salaried general dental practitioners has been recorded by the Dental Practice Division of the Common Services Agency from its dental list information in each of the last three years.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: This information is not available because of the way information on salaried dentists is supplied to the Common Services Agency. We are working with the agency to improve the accuracy of the data received on salaried dentists but the agency will continue to be unable to provide information relating to whole-time equivalent salaried dentists since none of the information received allows them to determine whole-time equivalents. This is because a number of salaried dentist posts are not filled by a single dentist but are shared by a number of dentists.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the National Group on Domestic Abuse will examine the issue of partner rape and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Ms Margaret Curran: The definition of domestic abuse contained in the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland includes rape by a partner or ex-partner. It is therefore within the remit of the National Group which is implementing the strategy.

Enterprise

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance it is offering to the 750 people made redundant following the closure of the Sanmina-SCI plant in Irvine.

Iain Gray: I very much regret the announcement by Sanmina SCI, of its intention to close its Irvine plant. Our immediate priority is to provide support and assistance for those facing redundancy. I have instructed the local PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment) team to ensure a rapid response to help those affected into new jobs or training opportunities. Support will be provided by the range of public agencies involved in the PACE team in terms of retraining, upskilling and guidance on employment opportunities.

  I met with representatives of Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire (SEA) and local MSPs on 1 August to outline the action to be taken, and am provided with regular updates on PACE activity by SEA. I am confident that Sanmina SCI will work closely with the PACE team to best ensure that the needs of its employees are identified, and addressed, at the earliest possible date.

Enterprise

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to address unemployment in Irvine and the North Ayrshire area following recent redundancy announcements.

Iain Gray: In recognition of the difficulties facing the wider Ayrshire economy, I met with Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, and the Chairman of the Ayrshire Economic Forum (AEF) on 1 August. I wrote to the AEF’s Chairman on 8 August, underlining the importance of the AEF’s Strategic Action Plan for securing sustainable economic development and employment opportunities across Ayrshire as a whole.

  The AEF is currently working up the detail of this action plan and my officials are working closely with local agencies to ensure this plan addresses the current challenges facing the Ayrshire economy.

  I also refer the member to the answers given to the questions S1W-27083 on 19 August 2002 and S1W-28194 today.

European Union

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will attend the EU working party on Justice, Home Affairs and Civil Protection in Brussels on 5 and 6 September 2002 and, if so, (a) which ministers and (b) how many of its officials will attend and (i) of what grade and (ii) from which department any such officials will be.

Mr Jim Wallace: Negotiations within the European Union are conducted by the United Kingdom Government, taking due account of the views of the devolved administrations. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide variety of EU-related issues, including those to be discussed on 5 and 6 September; and is represented as necessary at meetings in Brussels, whether at working groups of officials or Councils at ministerial level.

Ferry Services

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for the administration of pet passports; why no such scheme is available at the Port of Rosyth for the Superfast ferry, and when such a scheme may be available.

Ross Finnie: The Animal Health and Welfare Division of my department are responsible for the administration of the Pets Passport Scheme (PETS) policy in Scotland.

  Officials are currently in discussion with representatives of Superfast Ferries regarding the introduction of PETS on the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry route. Depending on the progress of these discussions, it should be possible to have an authorised PETS route in Scotland before the end of the year.

Finance

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when its contract monitoring procedures were last independently checked or audited in line with paragraph 2.3.10 of the Treasury Taskforce's  Technical Note No. 6: How to Manage the Delivery of Long-term PFI Contracts and what the results of the audit were.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Treasury Taskforce’s Technical Note No. 6: How to Manage the Delivery of Long-term PFI Contracts refers to contract monitoring in the development (award of the contract to the commencement of delivery of the services) and delivery (the provision and use of the contracted services during the remaining life of the contract) stages.

  Of the three Scottish Executive private finance initiative contracts, the technical professional consultant which monitors the M6 DBFO on behalf of Scottish ministers had its procedures audited by the Scottish Executive in December 2001, with a follow up in January 2002. An audit of the contract monitoring procedures in relation to Kilmarnock Prison will be included in the strategic audit plan covering the period 2003-06. Monitoring of the Skye Bridge contract is the responsibility of a unit within the Executive, and its procedures have been checked through internal audits over the period.

Housing

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive on what grounds a person may be excluded from joining the committee of (a) a local housing steering group, (b) a local housing organisation, (c) a housing association and (d) an area housing partnership.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is as follows:

  (a) There are no standard membership criteria set for organisations who are working towards registration. Membership criteria will vary depending on individual steering groups, and their local communities.

  (b) If a local housing organisation (LHO) is registered with Communities Scotland, the constitution and rules governing the organisation will set out criteria for membership, and members will sign a code of conduct. If the LHO is not registered with Communities Scotland, the same principles will apply as with a steering group. LHOs which have not yet achieved registration can also adopt rules on membership, or ask members to sign a code of conduct.

  (c) A person may be excluded from membership of a housing association if their application does not meet an association’s membership policy or rules or if a committee member does not agree by its code of conduct.

  (d) If a person does not meet the membership criteria of an area housing partnership they may be excluded.

Justice

Kate Maclean (Dundee West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland in implementation of the recommendations made by Dr Raj Jandoo in his inquiry report into the case of the murder of Surjit Singh Chhokar.

Mrs Elish Angiolini: Significant work has been progressed already in relation to those recommendations aimed both directly at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) and those which are aimed at the COPFS and the police jointly. A detailed action plan which charts the work progressed to date, and that which is necessary to complete the job, is available on the departmental website of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service www.crownoffice.gov.uk . A copy of this action plan has been provided to the bereaved relatives and partner of Surjit Singh Chhokar and to the Conveners of the Justice 2 and Equal Opportunities Committees.

  In particular, the Lord Advocate issued guidelines to Chief Constables in February this year which dealt with a number of matters: (1) the investigation and reporting of racist crime by the police to procurators fiscal; (2) the need for the police to assess language needs of accused persons, victims, witnesses and bereaved relatives and to provide procurators fiscal with this information, and (3) the information which procurators fiscal require of the police to allow liaison to take place with bereaved relatives in an appropriate way. The Commission for Racial Equality were consulted in relation to the drafting of the guidelines, which will be consistently monitored.

  The Commission for Racial Equality and the Racial Equality Councils have also been provided with a copy of the action plan and we are committed to completing the work required by the plan and to regularly updating the plan to demonstrate progress.

Legal Aid

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of any impact on the legal system of an EU directive establishing minimum common rules relating to legal aid and other financial aspects of civil proceedings in order to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Council of Ministers has decided that the scope of the proposed directive should be limited to cases involving litigants from different member states. On that basis, and on the basis of the current state of discussions in Brussels, the Executive expects the impact of the directive on the Scottish system to be very limited.

Legal Aid

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what specific representations it has made to Her Majesty's Government about the proposed EU directive to establish minimum common rules relating to legal aid and other financial aspects of civil proceedings in order to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of EU-related issues, including the proposed directive on legal aid.

Legal Aid

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made any specific representations to (a) the Council of the European Union, (b) any (i) member or (ii) body of (1) the European Parliament and (2) the EU Committee of the Regions and (c) the European Commission regarding the proposed EU directive to establish minimum common rules relating to legal aid and other financial aspects of civil proceedings in order to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes.

Mr Jim Wallace: Negotiations within the European Union on the proposed directive on legal aid are being conducted by the United Kingdom Government, taking due account of the views of the devolved administrations. The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the United Kingdom Government on a wide range of EU-related issues, including this directive.

Local Government

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to its news release SE0412/2001 on 20 February 2001 on support for school Public Private Partnerships, which of the local authorities listed as having been given public money are still to submit their feasibility reports and when it expects them to do so.

Mr Andy Kerr: The local authorities that received funding to develop their Outline Business Cases as announced in news release SE0412/2001 and have yet to submit these are: Angus, East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Midlothian, North Ayrshire, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire.

  The deadline for submission of the second round of Outline Business Cases is 31 December 2002, and authorities have until then to submit Outline Business Cases for funding approval.

Local Government

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much grant aid each local authority has made to community councils in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many community councils there are in each local authority area.

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many electoral wards in each local authority area are not represented by a community council.

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities currently have policies in place to promote the use of fair trade products.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.

Local Government

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has spent on telephone calls in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has spent on maintaining bus shelters in each of the last three years.

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has spent on repairing vandalised school buildings in each of the last three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Environment and Rural Development will reply to the letter of 18 March 2002 from the Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchan, referred to him by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and acknowledged by the Executive’s Correspondence Unit on 25 March 2002.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Responsibility for the issues raised by the Member of Parliament for Banff and Buchanan in his letter of 18 March rests with the Food Standards Agency, which is in turn within my portfolio. A response was issued on 1 August.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-24351 by Mr Jim Wallace on 22 April 2002, whether it will list each item of cost incurred to date at HM Prison Kilmarnock in respect of obligations of the Executive under the contract for the prison.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  In addition to those listed in the answer given to question S1W-24351, SPS meets the costs of non-domestic business rates as it does for every Scottish prison.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-20325 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 December 2002, whether it will publish, subject to deletion of matters that are commercially confidential, the contract for provision of medical services by Medacs Health care Services to the Scottish Prison Service and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Except where disclosure of parts of the contract would not be in the public interest as specified in Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Scottish Executive Information, SPS are making arrangements to publish the contract. Once this work has been done in association with the contractor a copy will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Prison Service

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the guidance in section 5.2 of the Treasury Taskforce's  Technical Note No. 3: How to Appoint and Manage Advisors to PFI Projects were followed when appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers to perform the financial review of the Scottish Prisons Service (SPS) estates review and, if so, how the criteria were applied in this case.

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, PricewaterhouseCoopers was asked all of the questions given in section 5.2.1 of Treasury Taskforce's Technical Note No. 3: How to Appoint and Manage Advisors to PFI Projects in any interviews in respect of appointment to perform the financial review of the Scottish Prisons Service estates review.

Mr Jim Wallace: No. The guidance is in respect of How to Appoint and Manage Advisors to PFI Projects . Such guidance was not relevant to the appointment to perform the financial review of the SPS Estates Review.

Public Transport

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much in subsidies each local authority has made to bus operators in each of the last three years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information is contained in the table.

  Bus Transport Subsidies

  
  Provisional 
Outturn1999-2000(£000)
Provisional Outturn2000-01(£000)
Provisional Outturn2001-02(£000)
 Aberdeen, City
468 71
38  Aberdeenshire
1,215 1,219
1,310  Angus
608 552
556  Argyll and 
Bute 1,291
1,849 1,696
 Clackmannanshire
284 411
435  Dumfries and 
Galloway 1,486
1,781 1,811
 Dundee
780 597
590  East Ayrshire
566 545
915  East Dunbartonshire
525 486
669  East Lothian
584 602
552  East Renfrewshire
397 427
574  Edinburgh, 
City 1,132
-983 -744
 Eilean Siar
1,048 1,088
1,132  Falkirk
1,443 1,486
1,564  Fife
1,055 1,176
1,346  Glasgow 
 3,851
3,594 4,238
 Highland
1,075 1,064
1,155  Inverclyde
359 595
615  Midlothian
415 555
632  Moray
329 321
359  North Ayrshire
708 608
598  North Lanarkshire
896 2,061
2,219  Orkney
161 194
199  Perth and 
Kinross 946
989 1,049
 Renfrewshire
781 979
1,665  Scottish 
Borders 735
898 937
 Shetland
609 626
653  South Ayrshire
641 703
802  South Lanarkshire
1,039 959
1,188  Stirling
816 954
993  West Dunbartonshire
291 268
904  West Lothian
749 959
1,332  Scotland
27,283 27,634
31,982 

  Notes:

  1. Figures are taken from local authorities’ Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimate returns to the Scottish Executive.

  2. All figures are net current expenditure and are also net of loan and leasing charges.

Rail Network

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27368 by Lewis Macdonald on 2 August 2002, whether it will seek to amend legislation in order to allow franchises to be public not-for-profit trusts and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Lewis Macdonald: The subject matter of section 25 of the Railways Act 1993 (as amended by the Transport Act 2000) is reserved under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998.

Roads

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the A6091/A7 Galashiels to Hawick route action plan study.

Lewis Macdonald: An Executive summary of the findings of the A6091/A7 Route Action Plan (RAP) study will be published following the outcome of the current review of all outstanding RAP schemes. The review is expected to be completed in the autumn.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it (a) spent on advertising and marketing in each year since 1999 and (b) has budgeted for such spending for the current year and each of the next two years.

Mr Andy Kerr: Spend on advertising in each year since 1999 is detailed as follows. Spending for the next two years is currently under review.

   
1999-2000 Spend 
(£)  Child Care
 63,843  Children’s 
Panels  121,623 
Domestic Violence  566,573
 Electoral Registration
 25,787  European 
Elections  32,029
 Fire Prevention
 254,590  Food 
Safety  29,035 
Healthy Christmas Campaign  
89,649  NHS Fraud
 100,000  Prescription 
Charges  4,678 
Road Safety  868,800
 Scotland’s Parliament
 547,600  Teacher 
Recruitment  99,680
 Tobacco 
 10,404  Total
2,804,291 

  
 2000-01
Spend (£)  Alcohol 
Abuse  471,970 
Child Care  132,30
 Children’s Panels
 123,120  Domestic 
Abuse  507,464 
Drugs Enforcement Agency  
54,695  Fire Safety supplements
 178,967  Flu Campaign
1,076,411  Food 
Safety  32,480 
Fostering supplement  32,443
 Lead in Water
 76,977  NHS Fraud
 21,942  NHS Helpline
 137,531  NHS Public 
Appointments  54,754
 Organ Donors
 48,465  Organ 
Retention  55,697
 Road Safety
1,261,955  Safer 
Scotland  162,825
 Scottish Criminal Records
 35,250  Teacher 
Recruitment  27,025
 Travel Awareness
 318,808   Total
4,811,309 

  
 2001-02
Spend (£)  Census
 599,733  Children’s 
Panels  261,853 
Domestic abuse  710,042
 Drugs 1,701,741
 Electoral Registration
 205,147  Environment
 871,555  Winter/Flu
 719,627  NHS Helpline
 199,209  Prevention 
of Suicide  88,050
 Anti Racism
 26,085  Teacher 
Recruitment  386,810
 Travel Awareness
 592,867  Child 
Protection on the Internet  
186,303  Fire Prevention
 355,807  Funding 
for Learners  9,972 
 Glasgow Housing Stock Transfer
 279,450  Litter
 118,934  National 
Debate on Education  25,515
 NHS Fraud
 29,920  Road Safety
1,592,767  Alcohol 
Abuse  576,237 
Learning Together  18,729
  Total
9,555,519  

  
 2002-03 to Date
Spend (£)  Public 
Internet Access Points  59,910
 Alcohol Abuse
709,479  Crime 
Brakers  29,072 
Domestic Abuse  120,461
 Drugs 
876,388  Environment
 45,266  Fire Prevention
 19,897  Free Personal 
Care 271,044 
Funding for Learners 100,218
 Glasgow Housing Transfers
 31,450  National 
Debate on Education 330,137
 NHS Helpline
 78,793  Organ 
Retention  94,131
 Prevention of Suicide
 67,012  Road Safety
826,090  Travel 
Awareness 309,046
 Healthy Eating
268,079  Home Reading
 14,554  Open Scotland
 3,941  Organs 
Donors  9,870 
Childrens Hearings  56,683
 Winter/Flu
 40,379  Motorway 
Advertising  7,931
 Racism
272,180  Teaching
 7,720   Total
4,650,117

Sexual Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to publicise Sexual Abuse Awareness Month in September 2002.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive welcomes the fact that local agencies involved in Sexual Abuse Awareness Month are planning a range of events and publicity. We recognise the importance of raising awareness of sexual abuse. We recently issued a research report Beyond Trauma: Mental Health Care Needs of Women Who Survived Childhood Sexual Abuse to health and social care agencies asking them to respond positively to its recommendations for service improvements. In addition we have awarded funding of £120,000 over three years to the Moira Anderson Foundation to help raise awareness of sexual abuse.

Sexual Offences

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-27353 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 August 2002, whether a copy of the strategic assessment and guidance document produced by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency will be made available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Dr Richard Simpson: It is not our intention to publish either the strategic assessment of drug-assisted sexual assault or the guide for investigators produced by the working group led by the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency. Both documents contain sensitive information inappropriate for the public domain.

  We will, however, draw upon the information in these documents to assist us with the development of new public information materials on drug-assisted sexual assault, as part of our Know the Score Drugs Communications Strategy. Copies of these materials will be sent to the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Small Businesses

Mr David Davidson (North-East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of small businesses eligible for business rate relief (a) applied for and (b) received such relief since the scheme was introduced.

Peter Peacock: The rates relief scheme for small businesses will be introduced on 1 April 2003.

Student Finance

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of students have qualified for maintenance grants since such grants were reintroduced.

Iain Gray: Bursaries were introduced in academic year 2001-02 for both young and mature students entering higher education for the first time or returning to higher education after a gap of a year or more. Thirty-nine thousand, eight hundred and nine students applied to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for maintenance support in 2001-02. Of these, 33.6% (13,385) received a Young Students' Bursary.

  Many of the remainder would have been eligible to apply for the Mature Students' Bursary Fund (MSBF), which is administered by individual colleges and universities. It is not possible to say how many students may have received payments from MSBF since figures on uptake are not yet available.

  In addition, 974 (2.4%) students received funding under separate arrangements for courses that attract a Scottish Executive Health Department bursary.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26693 by Lewis Macdonald on 26 June 2002, whether it will give details of the study into the proposed light rail system for west Edinburgh and, in particular, (a) who any consultants to the study are, (b) when the study will be published, (c) what sums have so far been expended on the study, (d) on what basis the allocation of £6 million to the study was made, (e) over what timescale the allocation will be spent and (f) what current information is available on the proposed system.

Lewis Macdonald: As Iain Gray announced on 29 July, City of Edinburgh Council has been awarded £5 million from the Integrated Transport Fund for a STAG stage 2 appraisal of the West Edinburgh Light Rail scheme, promotion of a parliamentary order or orders allowing the construction and operation of the scheme, and associated staff costs. This supersedes the figures quoted in the answer given to question S1W-26693.

  The study is being funded over three financial years, beginning in 2002-03.

  The other issues raised are a matter for City of Edinburgh Council.

Waste Management

Mr Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it plans to introduce to prevent the fly-tipping of used refrigerators.

Ross Finnie: The unauthorised deposit of waste (fly-tipping) is already prohibited by section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. However, this and the other legislation relevant to litter and fly-tipping is currently subject to a review which is expected to be complete by late summer.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Staff

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what the timescale the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body has set for the appointment of a Gaelic Development Officer and a Gaelic translator in the Parliament.

Sir David Steel: The advertisements for the posts of Gaelic Information Officer and Gaelic Outreach Officer were published on Friday 16 August. The deadline for applications is Friday August 30. Thereafter, all phases of the standard Parliament recruitment procedures will be followed to ensure an open and fair competition. These include selection of candidates for interview, interviews, taking up of references and pre-appointment security checks. All phases will be concluded as quickly as possible.

Scottish Parliament Staff

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer what procedures the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body are following to ensure that the Gaelic Development Officer and Gaelic translator positions in the Parliament are filled as soon as possible.

Sir David Steel: The standard recruitment procedures will be followed as outlined in the answer to S1W-28326 today.